Stories

Good News from Persecuted Christians in Syria?

In the news we have heard of many people fleeing Syria due to the violence. However, there are Christians that have chosen to stay in Syria…. and they say that there is actually good news coming from their country, despite the violence:

“This is a great opportunity God is offering to the church to get out of our Church buildings and reach out to the people.”

A youth worker of one of the churches in Aleppo sees the moment in Syrian history as “God’s grace”. “We as church were too focused on ourselves, on our own congregation. It seems that we needed the civil war to leave the four walls of our church building and help those in need outside our congregations.”

He sees Aleppo as the place God wants him to be. But he and his family did also flee the city as the cruel reality of the civil war came too close. “A rocket hit our neighbor’s house. The explosion damaged our house as well. We already were thinking about leaving, because my sick parents couldn’t get the medicine they needed in Aleppo.”

His father, mother and their six children fled to a coastal city in Syria. “We first repaired our house very provisionally and then, two months ago, we left. For my parents it is better here. Now they can get their medicine again and they get better. Also in this city it is a challenge to get the medicine, many times I have to search at ten different places to find them, but at the end I can buy the medicine somewhere.”

When he shares about the situation in his country, at times his eyes fill with tears, at moments his voice isn’t that steady. But these tears are rapidly replaced by a big smile on his face; “I believe and see that God is at work in the country. God made churches coming out of their four walls. In the past we only had our choirs, our activities for the members of the Church. Now I see churches reaching out and working together to make a difference in the country. They are coming out of their comfort zone.”